Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should

Here in NYC we have many big franchise gyms. Some of them have all their so called “cardio” machines placed in the front windows. If you were to walk by one of those windows on a weeknight at  say, 7 PM, you would see a long line of people spinning their wheels on treadmills and elliptical machines. I don’t know about you but that sight makes me laugh. Sometimes out loud. I swear to god they look like hamsters on a wheel to nowhere. Not only does it look ridiculous and surreal, but its funny to think how people in their quest for weight loss, fitness…whatever, work so hard against their bodies instead of with them. Completely oblivious, trotting along on their private wheel, listening to i-pods, watching TV…even reading magazines!

As you may have noticed, I am not a fan of treadmills, ellipticals, etc. Well…..lets put it this way, they are not the worst thing imaginable, they do provide some benefit, but they are overused, abused and the notion of

“Hey I can totally disconnect from my exercise while I am on one of these things,”

goes totally against WHY you would do it in the first place. The mind / body connection is one of the most powerful forces of nature you could ever experience. It ’s true fitness and health and OH yeah….it makes pencilnecks into something to be proud of.

So…..I guess the question posed in the title of this post is really not that important. All you need to do is walk. Or jog. In the open air with sunshine and feeling the wind on your face. The way nature intended you to. Just because someone came up with the bright idea of putting someone indoors on a treadmill doesn’t mean it has anything to do with the other. It was an idea someone ran with (pardon the pun). A pretty good idea if it is put in its place, but that is NOT the case today.  Here are some other problems with treadmills, and believe I have used treadmills and have felt this stuff personally!

1- It locks you into an unnatural movement. When you walk or run you are actively pushing/pulling yourself across the ground. In biomechanical terms this movement is called extension. A treadmill pulls you into a “passive” extension.” You are NO LONGER prfopelling yourself across the ground. You are keeping up with the machine as it pulls you along. For people with weak “cores” and backs that are already arched this may cause trouble. Hamstrings may not like it either.

2- When you are running outside you meet with a couple of different resistances. One is obviously gravity, the other is wind resistance. Inside on a treadmill there is no longer any wind resistance. So…the solution is to make up the difference by adjusting the treadmill to an incline. You are in effect running uphill. The trouble is that many people (maybe you) have tight calves. I see it all the time in clients. This means that running on an incline puts the tight calves on a stretch that they can’t handle. So……because your ankle can’t bend the way it should the difference will be made up somewhere else along the chain. Your knee twists, hips / back over rotate etc. Do this over and over again and you may be feeling a painful knees, sore back, hamstring. whatever.

3- The sheer boredom. I can’t stand running on treadmills. It is a road to nowhere. I remember back in the day when I was a competitive runner and out on training runs I would hear the sound of the wind increase in my ears as I picked up speed. This was the best on a trail  or in a park or somewhere among “nature.” I was in the moment of what I was doing. Listening to my breath, feeling my stride, staying relaxed. Time passed quickly because I was “connected” and I had great results producing runs. YOU CAN TOO!

I could go on and on but why bother asking if you are to old to use a treadmill or not? Why not just go outside and get started? It’s not rocket science. If you want to start on a running program then a run/walk progression works great. Walk for 100 steps run for 10 and alternate for 20 minutes. Work up from there. If you are already running then get off the #$*^%$ treadmill and get outside. Get off the hamster wheel!

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you  should.

Best,

Robert